


Operation Free Tiny Angel

by realityisoverrated



Series: Infinite Love [162]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: F/M, M/M, Polyamory, Polyfidelity, Sick Child, Smoaking billionaires, Toliver, flommy, olicity - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-24
Updated: 2018-02-24
Packaged: 2019-03-23 06:38:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13781862
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/realityisoverrated/pseuds/realityisoverrated
Summary: After spending weeks in the hospital, Oliver, Tommy, and Felicity just want to keep Prue safe. The problem is, she doesn't want to be safe, she wants to be a normal teenager. Luckily for Prue, her siblings are badass ninjas.





	Operation Free Tiny Angel

**Author's Note:**

> This story depicts a polyamorous relationship between one woman and two men. If this is not something you are interested in, please stop and go no further.
> 
> This installment is 162/162. The chronological list for the series, with hyperlinks, can be found at http://archiveofourown.org/works/11051019

 

“Bobby will be here any minute,” Becca informed Mia as she acknowledged her big brother’s text.

“We’ve got plenty of time, besides, I wouldn’t mind being late,” Mia said, her grin lit by the light from the dashboard. “I love your sister, but she has terrible taste in music.”

Becca wished she could disagree and defend her sister’s tastes, but she couldn’t. She’d hoped that by fifteen, Prue’s taste in music would’ve evolved beyond her tween love for the British boy band, Stranger Daze. In many ways, Prue was forced to grow up faster than all of them, but there was still a childlike innocence that made her seem far younger than she was. “She’s sat through more ballet performances for my benefit than I can count. The least I can do, is do this for her.”

“You know there is no way we get away with this?” Mia asked as Bobby opened the backseat door and slid in.

“We’re not expecting to get away with it,” Becca answered. “We just need to keep them in the dark as long as we can.”

Bobby looked at his watch, “Nate says Prue’s asleep in her room. Mom and dads are sitting at the kitchen table with Nate.”

“I’m ready if you are,” Becca said to Bobby.

“Let’s go break Prue out of jail,” Bobby grinned.

Bobby’s hand hesitated on the front door knob, “Wait until I get into the kitchen and I give the signal before you head upstairs.”

Becca nodded, “Okay.” As far as her parents knew, she was on campus in Cambridge. Everything depended on her getting upstairs without her parents hearing her. Both of her dads seemed to have superhuman hearing when it came to their children’s comings and goings, making it nearly impossible to sneak in and out of the house.

Bobby opened the door and gestured Becca inside. She slipped behind him and stepped towards the closet, her back pressed against the wall. “Hello, where is everyone?” Bobby called out as he strode through the foyer. He pulled his drumsticks from his back pocket and began to spin them in his left hand.

“Kitchen,” Felicity called out.

“Band practice got cancelled on account of Siu being afraid of his girlfriend,” Bobby lamented as he entered the kitchen.

Becca slowly made her way to the bottom of the stairs. She held her breath as she waited for Bobby to give her the all clear.

Bobby started to tap his drumsticks against the kitchen counter. Becca could hear her da tell Bobby to stop banging on his granite countertop as she quickly scampered up the stairs.

Becca slid into Prue’s darkened bedroom. She quietly crossed the room to her sister’s bed. Prue’s blonde curls spilled across her pillow like a halo. Becca watched the reassuring steady rise and fall of her sister’s chest. It had been four weeks since Prue had nearly hemorrhaged to death when an ulcer in her intestine ruptured. Prue’s condition had been so precarious, her parents had sent the jet to bring Becca home.

Becca took her sister’s hand and whispered, “Prue.”

Prue mumbled in her sleep but didn’t wake.

“Prue,” Becca whispered a little louder. “Wake up.”

Prue remained still. Becca worried that Prue had taken a painkiller. When she’d spoken to her sister that morning, Prue had reassured her that she wasn’t having any pain from her most recent surgery. If her sister had been lying to her siblings about her pain, they would need to reassess the plan.

“Prue,” Becca said a little louder.

Prue’s eyes flew open in panic. Becca covered Prue’s mouth with her hand, “It’s me. You’re okay.”

“Becca?” Prue asked groggily when her sister lifted her hand. “Why are you home?”

Becca sat next to her sister, “I have three tickets to Stranger Daze, I thought you might want to come with me?”

Prue hung her head, “Mom and dads said I couldn’t go. They gave my tickets to Daisy’s mom.”

“Well, luckily for you, Bobby has a credit card not controlled by mom and dads. He got tickets for you, Mia, and me,” Becca explained.

“Mom and dads aren’t going to let me go. They’re worried my guts will fall out,” Prue said through a yawn.

“Well, we’re not telling mom and dads and if your guts fall out, I will be super pissed with you,” Becca said knocking her shoulder into her sister. “Did you take a pain pill? Are you in pain?”

“I’m not taking pain meds anymore,” Prue answered.

“Good.” Becca stood up and held out her hand, “Get up, wash your face. Mia’s waiting for us outside.”

A smile lit up Prue’s face, “You really got me tickets?”

Becca pulled her sister’s covers back, “Sure did. Hurry up, we’re on a timetable.”

Prue got out of her bed gingerly. “If they find out, we’ll all get in trouble.”

“What are they going to do? Confine you to your bed for the next two to three weeks?” Becca asked pushing Prue towards her bedroom door. “I’m pretty sure that’s their plan anyway.”

“What about you and Bobby?” Prue said with concern.

“Don’t worry about us. Nate is the one who is really going to take the hit,” Becca informed her sister.

“Why? What’s Nate doing?” Prue asked, her hand braced on her bedroom door to keep Becca from opening it.

“For starters, he’s downstairs right now telling mom and dads that he’s failing two classes,” Becca said proudly.

“But he’s not failing. He’s doing really well so mom will let him keep dating Evan,” Prue told Becca.

“I know that, you know that, but mom and dads think he’s failing geometry and chemistry. His sacrifice is a noble one,” Becca said solemnly. “Which means you better have a lot of fun tonight. Hurry up, or we’ll be late.”

Prue began to chew her bottom lip as she stared at the door. “I don’t want Nate to get into trouble for something he didn’t do.”

Prue was incredibly stubborn and if she decided that she wasn’t going to let Nate sacrifice himself, there would be no changing her mind. “Nate wants you to go to this concert. If you don’t go because of him, you’ll make him feel terrible,” Becca insisted.

Prue sighed, but a small smile tugged on her lips, “Okay.”

As soon as Prue left her room, Becca turned to the closet to retrieve the outfit her sister had purchased for this concert. The white leather pants and ice blue silk tank top still had their tickets attached. Becca laid the outfit on her sister’s bed and then turned her attention to her jewelry.

Prue returned to the bedroom. Her wild mane of curls had been brushed and her eyes looked clearer. She ran her hand over the blue top and declared sadly, “I can’t wear this.”

“Why?” Becca asked. “If I could get away wearing a top like that without a bra, I would.”

Prue slipped her robe from her shoulders and turned her arms out to show them to her sister. She had purple and black bruises running up both arms from her IVs in the hospital. “I look like a drug addict.”

Becca forced her face to remain neutral about her sister’s bruising, “Well, I know you have other cute tops. I’ll find something with sleeves while you start getting dressed.”

Becca turned her attention to her sister’s closet. As she sorted through Prue’s shirts, she caught her sister’s skeletal figure in the mirror as she undressed. Prue had always been tiny and delicate, but she now looked frail. Her ribs and vertebrae appeared to be on the verge of tearing through her nearly translucent skin. Becca feared a strong gust of wind could scatter Prue’s molecules across the universe. Becca understood her parents’ impulse to keep Prue confined to their home, she was fighting it herself.

Prue grimaced as she lifted a leg to insert into her pants. “Are you in pain?” Becca couldn’t stop the question from leaving her lips.

“No, my stitches are just pulling,” Prue said, her hand covering one of the three bandages on her stomach.

“If you’re in pain, we can do this another night,” Becca told her. “We could go see them in another city.”

Prue’s eyes filled with tears, “Please, don’t treat me like I’m made of glass. It’s bad enough mom and dads do.”

Becca smiled apologetically, “You’re right. I’m sorry. You’re a complete badass.” Which was the truth. Prue was a badass. Becca knew that she would’ve crumbled if she had been forced to endure what Prue had.

Prue took the off-the-shoulder black satiny top that Becca held out, “Won’t I look too pale in this?”

“We’ll do a blood red lip and smoky eyes – you’ll look amazing,” Becca said with confidence. She guided her sister to her desk chair and opened the make-up bag she’d brought with her. “I’ll straighten your hair in the car. I left the flat iron charging.”

It took about ten minutes, but Prue no longer looked like she’d spent the past month bedridden. With a little blush, mascara and lipstick, Becca had transformed Prue into a normal carefree teenager looking to have a fun night out with friends. Prue stared at herself in the mirror, “I don’t look like me. I look pretty.”

“You look just like you and you’re beautiful,” Becca corrected as she helped Prue into her shirt.

There was a quiet knock on the door. Prue and Becca both jumped.

“It’s me,” Bobby said.

Becca opened the door, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Bobby said as he took in Prue’s appearance. “I told mom I wanted to check on Prue before I meet William for patrol.” A deep frown crossed his face.

“What?” Prue asked as she looked at herself in the mirror. “Don’t I look okay?”

He shook his head and smiled, “You look fantastic. Sometimes I forget you’re not ten anymore.”

Prue rolled her eyes, “You’re turning into daddy.”

Bobby held out a thermometer. When Prue folded her arms across her chest, he shook his head, “You can either let me check your temperature or I can blow this plan up – your choice?”

“Fine,” Prue huffed. She opened her mouth and allowed her brother to slip the thermometer beneath her tongue.

Bobby took hold of her wrist and began to take her pulse. “Did you eat today?”

Prue nodded.

“Your pulse is a little fast,” Bobby said.

“She’s just excited,” Becca said on her sister’s behalf.

The alert on the thermometer beeped and Bobby removed it from Prue’s mouth. “Your temperature is normal. How’s your pain?”

“I have the occasional twinge, but nothing too bad – a two, at most,” Prue answered nervously. “Please, Bobby, don’t change your mind.”

“Don’t overdo it tonight. I don’t want you tearing out your stitches,” Bobby told her.

Prue raised her right hand, “I promise. I will dance like daddy.” She began to shuffle from foot to foot with her elbows tucked tightly into her side and her bottom lip caught between her teeth.

Bobby laughed and took hold of her hand, “You don’t need to be that careful.”

Prue wrapped her arms around her brother’s waist, “Thank you for doing this for me.”

“This was all Becca’s idea, we’re just soldiers in her army.” Bobby kissed the top of Prue’s head, “Have fun tonight.”

“I will, I promise,” Prue said as she picked up a pair of black heels.

Bobby took the shoes from her hands, “No heels, that’s too much strain on your body. You need to wear flats.”

“But that will ruin my outfit,” Prue whined.

“But flats will keep your guts on the inside,” Bobby whined back with a playful smile.

“Fine,” Prue huffed. “I take it back, you’re just like da.”

Becca held out a cute pair of dark red flats, “These will look great.”

Bobby tapped his watch and waited for a response. “Nate says he’s ready to up his distraction to cover your exit.”

“Ready?” Becca asked Prue.

Prue nodded.

Bobby tapped his watch and they could hear Nate shout from the kitchen. Becca couldn’t hear what was being said, but their brother sounded angry.

Prue grabbed Bobby’s arm, “Don’t let him go too far.”

“That’s easier said than done with our brother, but I’ll try,” Bobby promised. The three waited at the top of the stairs.

“You’re ruining my life,” Nate shouted.

“Don’t use that tone of voice with your mother,” Oliver said angrily.

“It’s not my fault that I’m not smart as the others. It’s not fair that you’re punishing me for that,” Nate continued to shout.

Bobby gestured for his sisters to follow him down the stairs.

“We’re not punishing you for failing, we’re punishing you for not trying your hardest,” Felicity countered.

“You just don’t like Evan and you’re looking for any excuse to keep us apart,” Nate said angrily.

Becca and Prue followed Bobby towards the front door.

“This has nothing to do with whether or not we like Evan. We think you’re too young to date,” Felicity continued calmly.

“I’m not too young,” Nate whined. “You don’t want me to be happy.”

“Nate, we want you to be happy. We also want you to graduate,” Tommy said, sounding exhausted.

Bobby opened the front door and ushered his sisters out. “Bye,” he shouted towards the kitchen, “I’ll call you tomorrow.”

“Wait,” Felicity shouted back.

Bobby called after his sisters and gave them a thumbs up, “Have fun.” He quickly returned inside the house, closing the door behind him.

Becca opened the backdoor of Mia’s Mercedes and practically shoved Prue inside. Mia gave a voice command to the navigation system and the Mercedes pulled away from the curb.

Prue looked over her shoulder at their house, “We made it.”

“Next stop, Starling Arena,” Becca said with relief.

“Let’s get this party started,” Mia announced as the car was filled with the music of Stranger Daze.

 

The alarm on Tommy’s watch went off. He ran his fingers through Felicity’s hair, “It’s time for Prue’s next dose.”

“I hate to wake her,” Felicity said stretching. “When I checked on her an hour ago, she was asleep. Nate said she barely watched thirty minutes of the movies they were watching.”

“Watching movies wasn’t part of his grounding,” Oliver grumbled from Tommy’s other side.

“Keeping Prue company has always been exempted from grounding,” Felicity reminded her husband. Telling Nate he couldn’t spend time with Prue when she was sick was cruel and unusual for both children. Felicity was deeply unhappy with Nate’s grades and his attitude, but she would never keep him from Prue as a form of punishment. As it was, they were in for a long couple of weeks. Nate never took his groundings graciously and Prue was already protesting her post-operative home confinement. If Felicity had to keep them separated, there wouldn’t be any peace in their household.

“She’s asleep, but he’s still watching the movie. That sounds like a loophole to me,” Oliver groused.

“She also doesn’t like to wake up alone,” Felicity said. Prue was often left disoriented by her medicine and waking up alone usually sent her into a panic. When Prue was in the hospital, Felicity, Oliver and Tommy had taken turns spending the night. Now that she was home, Nate had taken to sleeping in Prue’s room every night.

Tommy stood up, “I’m going to bring Prue her pills. Do you want me to make Nate go back to his room?”

“No,” Oliver grumbled, “I just don’t know what to do with him anymore. I thought he was doing better.”

“Ollie, it’s a blip,” Tommy said, running his hand down his husband’s arm until he threaded their fingers together. “He’s capable of doing better. We’ll just get him back on course. I’ll schedule some time with his teachers and see if there’s anything he can do to make up for the past few weeks. He always goes a little off the rails when Prue’s in the hospital.”

Oliver looked up at Tommy, “I hate telling him he can’t see Evan.”

Felicity sighed, “You’re projecting, hon. Evan and Nate aren’t you and Tommy. They aren’t each other’s lifeline. We didn’t let Bobby and Becca date until they were sixteen. We tried making the exception for Nate, but he isn’t ready.”

“I know it’s not the same,” Oliver said, sounding a bit defensive. “I just don’t want him to think that our concerns about Evan have anything to do with the fact that he is a boy.”

“Luckily, our son knows that he cannot hope to play that particular emotionally manipulative card in this family and get anywhere with it,” Tommy said with a wink.

Felicity was about to agree with Tommy that their son didn’t have a leg to stand on if he thought he could accuse his parents of not approving of him being in a same sex relationship, when her pad signaled that one of their names had been recently been mentioned online. She reached for her tablet and opened the alert. The image she was looking at confused her. It was a picture of Becca, Prue and Mia at a concert, but that wasn’t possible. Becca was at Harvard, Mia was at Stanford, and Prue was upstairs in bed asleep next to Nate. Felicity opened the app that monitored the trackers for each member of her family. All three trackers were where they were supposed to be.

“What’s wrong?” Oliver asked, instantly on alert.

“I don’t think anything is wrong,” Felicity answered as she studied the picture. “Did Becca, Prue and Mia go to any concerts together this summer?”

“I don’t think so,” Tommy said with very little confidence.

“Why?” Oliver asked, holding out his hand for her tablet.

“According to some social media postings, the girls are at the Stranger Daze concert, but their trackers say differently,” Felicity said, handing her tablet to Oliver.

Tommy’s eyes gazed up at the ceiling, “She was pretty upset when we told her she couldn’t go.”

“Wasn’t she in bed when you checked on her?” Oliver asked.

Felicity closed her eyes and tried to picture Prue’s bedroom, “The light was out. Nate was sitting against the headboard. He was closest to the door. He was holding his tablet.”

“Did you see her?” Oliver asked.

Felicity’s eyes flew open, “No, I never saw her.”

“Prue wouldn’t sneak out,” Tommy said.

“Becca wouldn’t be so reckless with Prue’s health,” Oliver added as he handed the tablet to Tommy. “But all our kids are perfectly capable of overriding their trackers.”

Felicity frowned as she remembered a disagreement she’d had with Becca on the phone earlier in the week. She’d dismissed Becca’s concerns as being overly dramatic, but now she was wondering if her reluctance to listen to her daughter had only emboldened her. “Becca told me we were wrong to not let Prue go to the concert. She told me that we’re so afraid of Prue dying we’ve stopped letting her live.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Oliver said. “Prue has only been home for a week.”

“There’s a real easy way to find out if these pictures are from tonight,” Tommy said. “It’s time for Prue’s pills.”

Felicity and Oliver followed Tommy up the stairs. He was carrying a small tray with her pills, a glass of water and a snack. He knocked on Prue’s door, but didn’t wait for a response. He flipped on her overhead light and Nate blinked at his parents in surprise. In the light, it was clear that the lump under the blankets wasn’t their daughter.

“Turn back the covers,” Oliver growled.

“She’s in the bathroom,” Nate said quickly.

Oliver raised an eyebrow, “We just walked by it. The door was open and the light was out.”

“She’s in your bathroom?” Nate said nervously.

Felicity fought the urge to roll her eyes at her son’s terrible lie. “Where’s Prue?”

Nate shrugged.

Tommy put his tray down on Prue’s dresser, “Before you tell us one more lie, I’m going to remind you of the existence of the internet and how much strangers like to post pictures of you kids.”

“I’ll go get her,” Oliver told his spouses.

“Daddy, wait,” Nate said getting off the bed. “She’s already there. She’s having fun. The concert will be over in an hour. Can’t you let her have this?”

The sincerity of Nate’s love for his twin was clear in his words. Being angry at her son, wasn’t entirely fair to him when he so clearly believed he was doing the right thing. “Baby, your sister just had major surgery. She’s supposed to be resting, not out at a concert,” Felicity said gently.

“We all know that,” Nate said loudly. He closed his eyes, took a deep calming breath and Felicity watched him silently count to ten. “We all know that she had surgery. We all know how close she came to dying. No one knows that better than Prue. She’s been talking about this concert for months. The whole time she was in the hospital she talked about this stupid concert. You broke her heart when you told her she couldn’t go.”

“I know you don’t think we’re being fair,” Tommy began.

“No, da. Her almost bleeding to death isn’t fair. You’re just afraid.” Nate’s eyes filled with tears, “So am I - so are Bobby and Becca.”

Nate’s words were like a knife to Felicity’s heart. Felicity’s focus for the past month had primarily been on Prue. To hear, for the first time, that her other three children were still worried about Prue dying felt like an indictment of their parenting.

“Buddy, her surgical wounds haven’t healed. She could end up back in the hospital,” Oliver said, sitting on Prue’s bed.

Nate sat down next to his dad, “Or, you can trust Prue to remember she had surgery and still have a good time.”

“Maybe we could,” Tommy said, “but your sister has a bad habit of not telling us that something is wrong until it’s life threatening.”

“Maybe she doesn’t tell because she’s trying to hold onto normal for as long as she can,” Nate countered.

Felicity’s eyes filled with tears. She kissed the top of Nate’s head, “When did you become so perceptive?”

Nate hugged his mom and rested his head against her chest, “I’ve always been perceptive. You don’t always listen to me.”

“We’re going to get better at listening,” Felicity promised as she rubbed her son’s back.

“Don’t be mad at Prue,” Nate said. “You can be mad at the rest of us, but don’t be mad at her.”

 

Felicity greeted Becca and Prue at the front door. Both girls smiled sheepishly at their mom and accepted a hug from her.

“You look beautiful,” Felicity said truthfully as she ran her fingers through Prue’s pin straight hair.

“Thank you,” Prue grinned. “Becca did my hair and make-up.”

Felicity held out a hand to each of her daughters, “Your dads and brothers are waiting in the kitchen. We all need to talk.”

Instead of their usual seats at the table, Bobby and Nate were seated side by side with Oliver and Tommy seated across from them. Bobby gestured for Prue to sit next to him. Becca sat on Nate’s other side and Felicity sat between her husbands.

“Open up,” Bobby held the thermometer to Prue’s lips.

Prue rolled her eyes, but complied.

The family sat in silence as Bobby took Prue’s temperature and pulse.

“How’s your pain?” Bobby asked as he removed the thermometer from Prue’s mouth.

“A three,” she answered. Prue looked to her parents, “I promise, I feel fine.”

“Any bleeding?” Bobby asked.

Prue rolled her eyes and lifted her shirt to reveal her bandages. There wasn’t any sign of blood. “Not even one pulled stitch,” she said as she stood up for everyone to see her stomach. “My guts are still on the inside.”

“Glad to hear it.” Tommy pushed the tray that contained her pills, water and snack towards her, “You’re late with your meds.”

Bobby got up from the table and looked through Prue’s pill bottles on the counter. He retrieved a pill and returned to the table. He placed it in front of his sister, “Take this.”

“I don’t need a pain pill,” Prue told him.

“Humor me,” Bobby requested. “You’re saying your pain is at a three. For a normal person, that would probably mean a five or a six. You’re going to feel it more in the morning. There’s no reason for you to feel pain – take the pill.”

Prue swallowed the additional pill and began to eat the small bowl of applesauce. She lifted her eyes when she realized everyone was watching her eat, “You don’t have to wait. Go ahead and yell.”

Oliver folded his hands and rested them on the table, “We’re not going to yell.”

“But you’re mad,” Becca said.

“Rebecca, you flew across the country without telling us. Your dads and I thought you were in Cambridge. You snuck into the house, with the help of your brothers, in order to sneak your sister out of the house - after we told her she couldn’t go to this concert. Yes, we’re mad,” Felicity stated.

“Frankly, we’re surprised how reckless the three of you were with your sister’s health,” Tommy said sadly.

Bobby scoffed, “We were hardly reckless. She wasn’t in any danger.”

“I took her to a concert. We didn’t go ski diving,” Becca added.

“We didn’t tell her she couldn’t go to the concert because we were being mean,” Tommy said with some heat to his voice. “We spoke to her doctors, and they advised against it.”

“Of course they did,” Bobby said with exasperation. “They’re don’t want to get sued. They’re going to tell you to keep her locked up until her last stitch comes out.” He leaned across the table, “Do you honestly think I’d have let her out of the house if I thought she was in any real danger? Give me some credit, if not as a doctor, as her brother.”

“This isn’t about whether or not we think you’re a good doctor,” Oliver said. “This has everything to do with the fact that we’re Prue’s parents. We get to decide what’s best for her.”

“Don’t I get a vote?” Prue asked softly. “It’s my life. Don’t I get a say as to what I do with it?”

“Of course you do,” Felicity said, “but your dads are right. We made our decision based on what your doctors told us.”

Prue sat up straight, “I wanted to see this concert.”

“There will be other concerts, baby,” Felicity repeated for what had to be the hundredth time in the past week. She felt like she’d spent a lifetime telling Prue to be patient, and it felt terrible.

Tears spilled from Prue’s eyes, “I’m so tired of hearing that. There will be other concerts, other birthdays, other parties, other days – I hate it. I keep missing things. I didn’t want to miss this.”

“Your mom, dad and I realized something tonight,” Tommy said, reaching across the table to take Prue’s hand. “We don’t do a good enough job of listening to you. You tried to tell us how much this concert meant to you and we dismissed your feelings. We’re sorry, but what the four of you did tonight is unacceptable.”

“We’re not babies anymore, da,” Becca said testily.

“Well, adults would’ve come to us and asked us to rethink our position - not take Prue from the house without our knowledge,” Oliver said.

“Daddy, Bobby and I did try,” Becca said. “I spoke to mom and da about the concert. Neither of them listened to me.”

“I spoke to all three of you,” Bobby reminded his parents. “You told me that there was nothing left to discuss.”

“You didn’t respect our wishes,” Tommy accused his eldest.

“You’re right. We respected Prue’s,” Bobby responded.

“Clearly, we can’t ground the two of you,” Oliver said pointing to Bobby and Becca. “Hopefully, it’s enough for you to know that you’ve lost some of our trust.”

Bobby crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back in his chair. “Seriously, daddy?” he huffed.

Oliver pointed to Nate, “The grounding you received earlier tonight, double it.”

“Wait, wait,” Prue said rising to her feet.

“It’s okay, Prue,” Nate said with a smile.

“No, it’s not. You’re not failing any classes. You’re working harder on your schoolwork than I’ve ever seen you work,” Prue told her twin.

“You’re not failing?” Felicity asked with confusion.

“No,” Nate shrugged. “I only told you that so you’d be too busy yelling at me to hear Becca and Prue on the stairs.”

Tommy sighed. He ran his hands over his head, “Little man, why do you always choose the hard way?”

“I needed you to yell,” Nate said simply. “Bad grades are the only thing all three of you yell about.”

“All right,” Felicity said on a sigh. “Your original sentence holds.”

“Can I see Evan?” Nate asked hopefully.

Felicity looked at her husbands and saw her answer in their eyes. She returned her attention to their son, “I’m sorry, Nate. We don’t think you’re mature enough to be dating.”

“No,” Prue cried out. “That’s not fair. He was trying to help me. You can’t take Evan away.”

“He can still be friends with Evan, they just can’t date,” Tommy said to Prue while looking at her twin, “until August.”

“He’s doing everything you told him he had to do. Please don’t do this because of me,” Prue pleaded.

“Your brother lied to us,” Oliver said.

“For me,” Prue said, rounding the table to stand by Oliver.

“The reason for the lie doesn’t matter,” Oliver explained.

“It has to matter. I had so much fun tonight.” Prue began to cry, “Don’t punish Nate. I had so much fun.” Oliver ran his hand over Prue’s arms and she fell into his arms. “I had so much fun, daddy.”

Oliver dropped his head to the top of Prue’s head and looked at his wife and husband. Felicity wiped the tears from her own eyes. Oliver kissed the top of Prue’s head, “We’re glad you had fun, sweetheart.”

“Don’t be mad at them,” Prue sobbed. “They only wanted me to have fun.”

“Okay, Prue,” Oliver said as he stroked her hair.

“You can punish me. You can be mad at me,” she gasped. “I’m sorry I got sick again.”

“Hey, hey,” Oliver said as he held her away from his chest. He smoothed the hair from her eyes, “No one is mad at you for getting sick.”

“I made everyone worry. I made everyone think I was going to die,” Prue said wiping her eyes, smearing mascara down her cheeks. “I know you get angry that you can’t control this, and mom feels guilty that she could find a cure for paralysis, but not for this, and da blames himself for my very first surgery and thinks it caused all the rest – but none of this is your fault, any of your faults. The doctors don’t even know why I’m like this. It’s no one’s fault.”

“You’re right, Prue,” Felicity said taking her daughter’s hand, “it’s not fair for your dads and me to let our fears be so visible. They’re not your burden to carry.”

Prue shook her head, “It’s okay to be afraid. It’s not okay to let your fears control you – daddy taught me that.”

“We’re trying to keep you safe,” Tommy said through his tears.

“I know, da,” Prue looked across the table at her sister and brothers, “but I want more out of life than being safe. I want to do all the things they get to do that you don’t even blink about.”

“Prue, that’s not fair. We don’t treat you differently than your sister or brothers, except when you’re sick,” Felicity said.

“That’s not true. All of you treat me differently,” Prue said with a watery smile. “I know you don’t mean to do it, but you do.”

“Give us an example,” Felicity requested.

“Da never yells at me,” Prue said.

“That’s because you never do anything for me to yell about,” Tommy said in his own defense.

All four children snorted.

“Prue always does what she’s told. She does her homework. She keeps her room clean. She doesn’t talk back,” Tommy enumerated Prue’s qualities.

All four children snorted again.

“Our tiny angel might be the perfect child, but she also talks back,” Becca informed her dad.

“All the time,” Bobby laughed.

“I’m not an angel,” Prue said sullenly.

“Lucifer was an angel,” Nate teased.

“Okay, we don’t correct your backtalk, what else?” Oliver asked.

“Da makes me wear a sweater when I go out in the summer,” Prue said.

“You’re always cold,” Tommy said with a mixture of chagrin and humor.

“That might be true,” Prue returned her da’s smile, “but I’m old enough to make that decision.”

“What else?” Oliver asked.

“You don’t let me spar with anyone but you,” Prue said.

Oliver’s jaw began to tick, “If you can bring me down, you can bring down anyone.”

“Becca, has daddy ever knocked the breath out of you training?” Prue asked her sister without taking her eyes from her dad.

“Yeah, more times than I can count,” Becca answered.

“You’ve never knocked the breath out of me,” Prue said like it was an accusation. “You pull your blows with me.”

“I’m never going to hit you in the stomach,” Oliver informed his daughter.

“Will you ever let me put on a mask?” Prue asked Oliver.

“No,” Oliver answered her immediately. “It would be too dangerous.”

“You don’t think I could do it?” Prue asked, her eyes filling with tears.

“I don’t have any doubts that you would be great at it,” Oliver said with pride.

“Then why?” Prue asked.

“Robert,” Felicity said, “lift your shirt.”

Bobby stood up and lifted his shirt. He had a large bruise on his stomach where he’d taken a kick the week before. Prue’s nose wrinkled, and she walked over to her brother. She tentatively placed a hand on the bruise, “Are you in pain?”

“It’s a one, unless you push on it,” Bobby reassured his sister.

“That’s why your daddy holds back in training and will never let you wear a mask,” Tommy told her. “You physically can’t take a blow to your stomach. If you got kicked the way Bobby had been, it could kill you.”

“You’re right, we do treat you differently,” Felicity admitted. “We need to do a better job of asking ourselves if our choices are fear based and irrational or fear based and rational. Maybe your dads and I were wrong about tonight. We should’ve trusted you when you said you felt well enough to attend.”

“Thank you,” Prue threw her arms around Felicity’s neck. “How grounded am I?”

“We haven’t decided yet,” Felicity admitted. They would have to wait until Prue had healed before they began her punishment. “We’re open to suggestions.”

Prue nodded, “Okay, I’ll think about it.”

Tommy cleared his throat, “There’s something else we want to discuss with you three.”

Bobby, Becca, and Nate all shifted nervously in their seats.

“Nate said something to us earlier, that got us thinking. Are the three of you all right?” Tommy asked.

“All right?” Bobby asked in return.

“Prue’s latest hospitalization was scary – for all of us,” Oliver stated. “Do you want to talk about it? You don’t have to talk to us, we can get you a therapist, if you need to talk to someone.”

“We talk to each other,” Becca said, taking her brothers’ hands. “No one understands our family better than we do. We’re fine.”

“If you change your minds,” Felicity said gently, “your dads and I are always here for you.”

Bobby, Becca, and Nate nodded their heads.

“Prue’s pain pill is going to kick in any minute, time for bed,” Tommy hooked his thumb over his shoulder.

“Are you staying the night?” Prue asked Bobby hopefully. “I took video tonight.”

Bobby stood with his back to Prue and stooped in front of her until she wrapped her arms around his neck. When he stood up, her legs went around his waist, “I’ll stay if you promise I don’t have to watch any of the videos.”

Prue laughed, “How about three videos?”

“One video,” Bobby countered, “and you can’t talk about Danny Banks, and how dreamy he is, in a voice only dolphins can understand.”

“I don’t talk about him like that,” Prue protested in a high-pitched voice.

Bobby covered his ears, “I rest my case.”

Nate and Becca followed their siblings out of the kitchen. Felicity laughed when she heard Nate say, “Danny Banks is hot.”

“Is crushing on the same guy a twin thing? Cause, it’s kind of gross,” Becca teased.

“Hey, Becks. I think Tate Silver is hot too,” Nate teased his sister with the name of her favorite actor.

Becca gasped and with feigned outrage asked, “How dare you?”

Felicity wiped the tears from her eyes as she continued to listen to her children on the stairs. Oliver placed an arm across her shoulders, “Are you all right?”

“I miss having them all at home,” Felicity answered. It was the truth. The house was too quiet with only two of their four children under their roof. “I thought parenting was supposed to get easier as they got older.”

“You keep saying that,” Oliver teased, “despite all evidence to the contrary.”

“If you thought that was hard, what punishment are we giving Prue?” Tommy asked with a frown.

Oliver groaned, “I have no idea.”

Felicity understood her husbands’ reluctance to punish their youngest. Her recent medical crisis seemed like more than enough punishment. “She wants us to treat her like the rest of them,” Felicity said, as much to remind herself, as her husbands.

“Too bad she’s not dating anyone we can forbid her to see,” Tommy said with a glint in his eye.

Oliver shook his head with amusement.

“I vote we let her decide her own punishment,” Felicity suggested. She wasn’t eager to impose any sentence on their daughter. “I’m sure she’ll come up with something fair.”

“Sounds good to me,” Oliver quickly agreed.

“Is it just me, or do either of you want to watch Prue’s videos too?” Tommy asked as he stared at the ceiling.

The sound of their children’s laughter was clear, even through kitchen ceiling. There was no better sound to Felicity’s ears. They’d spent weeks watching their daughter in a hospital bed fighting for her life. It was past time they started watching her live it. She held out her hands to her husbands, “Let’s go watch videos of Danny Banks singing terrible songs.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading. Kudos and comments are always welcomed and appreciated. 
> 
> Thank you to everyone who checked in on me when I missed my usual posting dates. I had a migraine that lasted for five days and yesterday was the first day I could tolerate looking at a computer screen for more than five minutes at a time. This wasn't the installment I was planning on posting today, but it was the one that required the least amount of editing.
> 
> Prompts are encouraged.
> 
> I posted an installment for the Olicity Valentine's Day Smut A Thon. It is a standalone fic that isn't part of the Infinite Love universe. Here's the link, if you're interested. http://archiveofourown.org/works/13670577
> 
> You can also come say hi to me on tumblr. I'm always happy to answer questions about this verse or anything else Arrow. http://realityisoverrated-fic.tumblr.com


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